What's Your Real Opinion About the Movie?

When I saw it in the theatres I felt dissapointment mostly because it wasn't what I was expecting. On it's own however it was a decent sci fi flick :)
 
I feel it was odd That Movie had the Wing Commander title attached to it.

It's quite a good watch on its own (mainly the special effects which didn't cost an arm and a leg to produce) but I felt the title dragged it down due to preconceptions. I have very definite ideas on what a Rapier should look like ;-)
 
That starlancer movie wasn't bad, but why they made the coalition soldiers look like aliens is completely beyond me :p

Jests aside once i finally got over all the niggling little things i found it to be a fun movie, damn annoying that they never really released the DVD version here in oz.
 
Hmm... I bought a WC movie DVD off realgroovy.co.nz
I had a choice of an imported Zone 1 or a Zone 4

Might be worth a look if you're really keen.
 
I know prob. Nobody here agree's with me, esp. after reading the remarks. I am a real fan of the games, but for me the movie was a big let down. I saw it with a friend and was looking forward to it for a long time. There were some good points though. But all in all, I don't think I would say it was good. I was not then, and am still not up on the books, so the pilgram thing threw me off, as well as some of the ship models. The acting was ok, and the special effects were done real well. However in my rating system the movie is at best a C, or C+.
 
The movie, as it "fits" into WC canon, is aggravating...

I don't care for Freddie P. or Matt whoever (as you can guess)...

that being said..

The movie was quite FUN! I really liked it! It was a fun feature length film and I hold it as enjoyable...until I try to reconcile it with the traditional WC canon.

*shrug* Chris Roberts conceived the game and the movie...

Thank you sir, I'll take another...if he can get it made!
 
Stone48420 said:
Unfortunately I don't think a sequel will ever happen. But just image an older more mature acting Prince and Lillard. I can see it now opening on the destruction of the kilrathi star base in Venice the terrans happy as ever fade in to the destruction of the Goddard colony by the Sivar Dreadnought. The battles that ensue afterwards and the eventual destruction of the dreadnought. I think it would make one hell of a sequel unfortunately its just a cool day dream.

Sorry for the rant.

it would need flashbacks, to Blair's father, Denny Blair ;)
 
I like the movie, but I'm biased towards Wing Commander products. But I'm not crazy about it, I didn't find it as engaging as the best games and books.
 
As I get older and older, I like the movie more and more. I don't really know why though.

I just looked up the wikipedia page on the WCM. It stated that the events of "Pilgrim Stars" has the Tiger's Claw fighting Pilgrims in the Sol Sector at the same time that WC1 would have the Claw in the Vega Sector fighting Kilrathi. Having not read the novel, I was wondering how exactly the order of events in 2654 played out...

1) Events of the Movie- March of 2654

2) Academy and WC1- April/ May through October(?) 2654

3) SM1 - End of 2654 to early 2655

Is this somewhat correct? Where would "Pilgrim Stars" fit here?
 
Delance said:
I like the movie, but I'm biased towards Wing Commander products. But I'm not crazy about it, I didn't find it as engaging as the best games and books.

Did you happen to read the movie novelization? I found it better than some of Forstchen's stories.
 
LeHah said:
Did you happen to read the movie novelization? I found it better than some of Forstchen's stories.

Actually, no, and I probably should. And it really is better than the movie, it fits with my previous idea. There's an enjoyable story somewhere on the movie, but it just doesn't quite work.
 
LOAF brought it to my attention that WCM novelist Peter Telep writes really, really great books, based after other people's screenplays. (He did similar for the pilot episode of Space: Above And Beyond, for instance)

I may have enjoyed the book more than the movie, in fact. The book also includes the traitor subplot and the knife fight between Commander Gerald and Blair. Telep also happens to have a good talent in "evening things out" - things that seemed utterly weird or silly in the movie are given more logical reasonings - IE: the climax at Scylla.
 
LeHah said:
things that seemed utterly weird or silly in the movie are given more logical reasonings - IE: the climax at Scylla.

To be fair, the knife fight was supposed to be the Climax. Every thing after was really denouement so as LOAF say, It's surprising to movie works at all. At the point of the fight, all the tension regarding the traitor and such is resolved so the rest from a movie going perspective is all about getting to Sol on time, not whether or not they have the ability to stop the kilrathi fleet.

That old 3 minute promo trailer has a few seconds of the combat on the CommCon still in that isn't in the finished movie. Yet it's a glimps at some of the intensity of the sequences that are missing. One thing: Its an action scene... with Theiry Arbogast as the DP! (Leon: The Professional)
 
AD said:
One thing: Its an action scene... with Theiry Arbogast as the DP! (Leon: The Professional)

One thing thats always drove me nuts about the criticism put against the Wing Commander movie is that everyone mentions that they don't like the camera work. Whats wrong with these people? Its one of the strongest elements of the movie!
 
LeHah said:
One thing thats always drove me nuts about the criticism put against the Wing Commander movie is that everyone mentions that they don't like the camera work. Whats wrong with these people? Its one of the strongest elements of the movie!


I think that most people who don't like it, don't have a clue about what it is that dind't like so they lash out. There *are* some really odd edits (but that has nothing to do with cinematography). And I think the's edits throw people off. THere's one wierd one early on when maniac comes from off screen when blair and angle are talking (at the rapier when they first meet). And there's a wierd fadeout that suggests a missing scene when blair and maniac are on the flightdeck after Rosie's crash. Those are the only elements that kind of bug me when watching the movie. Less noticable are where the shots don't line up on the CommCon. When angel enters the room with Blair and the NavCom they used elements of two different shots. It was probably the only way to make sense of the scene without that big fight in the middle.

The other thing people mention is the direction... I don't see how people can judge that by what they see on screeen. Most of the actors do exactly what they're supposed to here and for the most part the performances are solid. (though some of the dialogue is odd, but that is the scriptwriters fault really)
 
AD said:
I think that most people who don't like it, don't have a clue about what it is that dind't like so they lash out.

Don't even try reading Roger Ebert's review of the movie. It's basically him saying "Stanley Kubrick died this week, so Wing Commander really sucks since its not enough like 2001"


AD said:
There *are* some really odd edits

The movie is very badly edited. You pointed out the worse offender - the fade out between Rosie's death and Angel confronting Maniac. Theres also a couple other things that weren't established enough (Sansky looking at his school photograph, or his injury on the bridge) or were just established badly (Paladin coming out of nowhere to torpedo the Kilrathi ship).

AD said:
The other thing people mention is the direction.

Well, with rare exception, if you don't like the movie - you can blame the director. An example of an exception would be David Lynch's Dune, where Lynch had a much longer cut (not to be confused with the recent Alan Smithee edit) and the studio jumped in and edited the movie against Lynch's adament wishes (hence the "Alan Smithee" name attached to the extended version). However, no such interference was involved with Wing Commander. Yes, I blame the scriptwriter more than I'd ever blame Chris Roberts - but the fact of the matter is that Roberts agreed to shoot the script. It all comes back to him.

I think Chris Roberts has a good eye for directing and he knows how to get good performances and a great crew behind him. He just needs a little more work to find his way. Not every director pulls a Terrance Malick and makes a masterpeice on their first feature film.
 
LeHah said:
Don't even try reading Roger Ebert's review of the movie. It's basically him saying "Stanley Kubrick died this week, so Wing Commander really sucks since its not enough like 2001"

Too late... read it years ago and saw it on TV even when he reviewed it for.... (was Siskel still alive then? I don't remember).

The movie is very badly edited. You pointed out the worse offender - the fade out between Rosie's death and Angel confronting Maniac. Theres also a couple other things that weren't established enough (Sansky looking at his school photograph, or his injury on the bridge)

I suppose that has more to do with context though. It doesnt really matter because it's a throwaway once the Traitor was removed. Though in a longer cut, it may have helped make sense of the traitor plot if it was more established. However, I'd say to some degree there was intention there as well. If there is a suspected traitor on board and theres a long scene of sansky getting weepy or pondering a photo of someone we see early in the movie it would possible be too much of an AHA moment for the audience too soon into the film.

...or were just established badly (Paladin coming out of nowhere to torpedo the Kilrathi ship).
True I't could have been set up better, yet I always thought that it was intentional. For a moment things are supposed to seem precarious for the tiger claw. I think someone even says "Where's Paladin?" And he has been sneaky and got in close so it's supposed to be a surprise when he saves the day.


In all, I'd be extremely interested in seeng how many of the really bad edits are due to things being moved around to make the film work without the traitor subplot. In one respect though the rosie crash one makes a perfect spot to break for commercials. That edit would feel right at home on TV.
 
I think for the -most part- the acting is solid but I do not like Freddie as Blair at all. I mean at all. I hate the way he trots around the movie with his mouth gaped open and a dumb look in his eyes.

The big problem is the script though. The movie just doesn't flow very well, none of the characters are particularily developed or compelling to a non-Wingnut audience, etc... I was especially disappointed with Jurgen Prochnow. A great actor in my opinion, but the movie gives him nothing to work with. The whole way through he is a prejudiced XO who questions the reasonable Captain's orders and is always wrong.

In fact I think a lot of the problem stems from the Pilgrim angle they tried to develop. It wasn't in the original canon and they tried to introduce it for the movie but it served only to muck things up.
 
Falcon988 said:
The big problem is the script though. The movie just doesn't flow very well, none of the characters are particularily developed or compelling to a non-Wingnut audience, etc... I was especially disappointed with Jurgen Prochnow. A great actor in my opinion, but the movie gives him nothing to work with. The whole way through he is a prejudiced XO who questions the reasonable Captain's orders and is always wrong.

In fact I think a lot of the problem stems from the Pilgrim angle they tried to develop. It wasn't in the original canon and they tried to introduce it for the movie but it served only to muck things up.


I really don't have a problem with the pilgrim stuff. And it really doesn't "muck things up" at all. In reality, it's mostly in there to explain why Blair is getting the brunt of all the predjudice and why people are blaming him for things being done by the traitor. Geralds reactions, as is, seem overdone yet are completely beleivable if they suspect a traitor is on board. Yet without the traitor the pilgrim stuff is really a throwaway plot device used so only blair can make the final jump to save the day.
 
I was especially disappointed with Jurgen Prochnow. A great actor in my opinion, but the movie gives him nothing to work with. The whole way through he is a prejudiced XO who questions the reasonable Captain's orders and is always wrong.

Actually, I thought Sansky was a rather poor CO. He was quite indecisive during the combat against the Kilrathi fleet near the middle of the film. After Sansky died, it was in many ways the actions of Gerald (even more so than Paladin or Blair) that brought the Tiger's Claw into a position where Blair could save the day. Prior to his death (by paper cut to the skull) Sansky's decisions were muddled by slow reaction time and doubt, and the only thing that he didn't waver on was the Paladin issue because he happened to be carrying some esoteric Tolwyn family ring (that could have just as easily been stolen).
 
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